It is known to provide a shovel having a U-shaped handle. Such handle has a pair of side members attached to opposite sides of a blade, and a handle bar extending between the ends of the side members remote from the blade. This configuration, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,206 to Yost and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 271,369 to Gesner, is well adapted for ploughing, scooping up and unloading material, but not for lifting such material. It is also known to provide a crossbar or handle to serve as a structural support and/or to provide a fulcrum for a lever action in order to facilitate lifting the material. U-shaped designs in which this feature is added are described in U.S. Pat. No. 321,326 to Waite and U.S. Pat. No. 3,136,574 to Pasquale. Pasquale discloses that the handle may be positioned to reduce bending and that the blade may be provided with cut out corners to minimize interference with the user's body. Waite discloses a crossbar/handle which is inaccessible to the user without bending. In both cases, the shovel is designed to be approached from the side and grasped conventionally with one hand below the other.
The prior art handles, such as those of Pasquale and Waite, permit the user to use only one hand (the lower hand), for controlling the load. This hand also provides a fulcrum for using the other hand (the upper hand) to provide a lever action to assist in lifting the load. This mode of handling involves a certain amount of bending and also distances the location of application of the support forces away from the axis of the user's back. This bending and distancing produces back strain. This mode of handling may also impose constraints on the size and/or shape of the blade due to considerations of load size and minimizing interference with the user's body. Furthermore, competing considerations come into play with respect to the position of the handle. To facilitate lifting, the handle must be positioned close to the load. On the other hand, to avoid back strain, the handle is preferably accessible without bending.